


Boston Calling

by haircutnamedarthur



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Boston, Gen, Pre-Canon, Shenanigans, Tourists, Travel, Vacation, this can be read either as shippy or platonic as you please
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-22
Updated: 2017-09-22
Packaged: 2019-01-03 23:08:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12156693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haircutnamedarthur/pseuds/haircutnamedarthur
Summary: Yuuri and Phichit take a break from their training in Detroit to spend a long weekend exploring Boston together.





	Boston Calling

“Yuuuuuuuri!  Let’s go to the aquarium!” Phichit hollered, leaping onto Yuuri’s hotel bed and almost bouncing him right off it.

“Right now?”  Yuuri asked as he grabbed onto the headboard so he wouldn’t get launched onto the floor by Phichit’s antics.  “I was figuring we could just order room service and take a nap.  Aren’t you tired from the plane ride?”  Their early flight from Detroit to Boston had been horribly delayed for reasons that Yuuri could not quite determine, and after spending so much time in the airport and then on the plane, he was exhausted.

“Um, no!  I’m _full_ of energy, Yuuri.  Anyway, since Ciao Ciao is being all intense about our training, we only get to stay for a long weekend.  We cannot afford to waste _any_ time!  Not when we have to go to the aquarium and the all the museums and walk on the Freedom Trail and go in the Duck Boats and also the Swan Boats, since those are different you know, and-”

“I get it, I get it,” Yuuri flapped his hands in placation.  “What about going after dinner so we could at least take a little break?”

“Noooo! The Aquarium closes at five! We have to see the _seals_!” Phichit pleaded. He gave his best puppy dog eyes and Yuuri just sighed. Even when they first became friends, Phichit learned quickly which buttons to push when he wanted to get Yuuri involved in one of his crazy ideas. Although Yuuri knew exactly what Phichit was doing, he always had trouble saying no to him. He usually just wound up going along with whatever it was unless it was an especially insane plot.

 “Fine, let’s go see the seals,” Yuuri said, defeated.  He pretended to be more put out by it than he actually was.  There was no doubt that Phichit could be a force of nature, but Yuuri couldn’t deny how much he enjoyed his company.  And Phichit’s ideas were almost always fun.  “At least let me comb my hair before we go.”

“Yahoo! Yay, Yuuri!” Phichit squealed and tackled Yuuri to the bed in a fit of excitement.

~*~

“Yuuri where are you going?” Phichit asked, grabbing him by the arm in the hotel lobby.

“I was just going to the concierge desk to ask them the best way to get to the Aquarium,” Yuuri said and Phichit gave his head an emphatic shake.

“I know how to get there!  I remember from last time,” Phichit said.  Yuuri shot him a dubious look.

“Phichit, didn’t you last visit Boston when you were twelve?”

“Yep!” Phichit hummed, taking Yuuri’s hand in his and dragging him out of the lobby and towards the escalators that would bring them outside.

“No offense, but there is no way you remember how to go somewhere that you went to once when you were twelve,” Yuuri said, but allowed Phichit to keep towing him along.  Once Phichit got a notion in his head, it was almost impossible to stop him.

“Don’t worry your pretty little head, Yuuri.  I have an exceptional sense of direction so we’ll be absolutely _fine._ Really,” Phichit said in a sing song voice as he hustled Yuuri through the revolving doors.

“Really though.  How will you know what subway stop to get off at?” Yuuri asked, wishing he’d at least had a chance to grab a map before they set out.

“Silly Yuuri!  We’re walking!  That’s how I got there last time and it wasn’t a very long walk but we passed through lots of neat places on the way.  So I want to do that again!” Phichit explained, waiting for the walk light on the crosswalk to change. 

“Can we at least ask someone if we’re heading in the right direction?” Yuuri asked as they trotted across the street together.  Phichit still hadn’t let go of his hand, but Yuuri didn’t mind.  It hadn’t taken long for Yuuri to get used to Phichit’s affectionate nature once they became friends.  At first, he’d found it a little embarrassing, but he’d grown to like it over time.  As they walked, Phichit swung their arms back and forth.

“Geez Yuuri! Has anyone ever told you that you worry too much? We’ll be _fine!_ Just trust me,” Phichit’s voice was light and teasing so Yuuri didn’t take offense, not really anyway. It wasn’t news to Yuuri that he was a worrywart, but he always felt like that part of him stood out more contrasted with Phichit’s carefree nature. He didn’t _like_ being a worrier, though, so he just gave a long suffering sigh and gave Phichit free rein to (somehow) get them to the aquarium before it closed.

 “See, I got us to Boston Common!  I _do_ know where I’m going,” Phichit said a few streets later, flashing a big cheesy grin at Yuuri. 

“The sign says this is the Public Garden.”

“Close enough!  They’re like, connected.  I think,” Phichit mused, apparently trying to remember his last Boston vacation.  “Yeah, yeah, there’s a road between them but they’re right next to each other.”  All of a sudden, Phichit’s head snapped around and his dark eyes opened so wide that they sparkled.  “ _Oh my God!_ YuuriYuuriYuuri LOOK!”

“At what?  I don’t see anything,” Yuuri looked all around as Phichit literally started bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“ALBINO SQUIRREL!” Phichit shrieked loud enough that several random passersby jumped in alarm. 

“ _What_?” Yuuri said, incredulous. Vibrating with glee, Phichit pointed up into a tree where a pure white squirrel leaped from branch to branch with a horde of its normally colored comrades. “Oh wow! You’re right. It _is_ an albino squirrel.”

Without another word, Phichit detached his hand from Yuuri’s and raced to the base of the tree to start snapping pictures and taking videos on his phone. He had his selfie stick removed from his bag and fully set up with near frightening speed.

 “Yuuuuuuri come here!  We need to take a selfie with the albino squirrel!  It’s sooooo cute I’m gonna dieeee!” Phichit hollered, waving him over with one hand and continuing to document the squirrel sighting with the other.  Yuuri couldn’t help but laugh.  _He gets so excited about things,_ Yuuri thought as he went to Phichit’s side, _that’s probably why he’s so much fun to be around all the time._ “This is a once in a life time opportunity!”  Phichit wasn’t the only one who was photographing the squirrel, although he was probably the most excited.  A small crowd had formed at the base of the tree as the tiny creature skittered from tree branch to tree branch, flicking its bushy white tail. 

It took some maneuvering with the selfie stick, but Phichit was eventually able to get himself, Yuuri, and the squirrel all in the frame.  He flung an arm around Yuuri’s shoulders and pressed his head to Yuuri’s.  Yuuri flashed a peace sign, still laughing at Phichit’s antics as the phone camera click, click, clicked away. 

Before too long, the squirrel decided that it was done with its photo op and scurried higher into the tree where it was hidden by leaves. Only the occasional flash of white fur revealed the squirrel’s location. The small crowd that had gathered to admire it gave a collective sigh and broke up to drift away, returning to whatever they had been doing before the squirrel appeared.

 “Yuuri, how _cute_ was that squirrel!  I wonder if squirrels make okay pets?  I mean, it’s probably not that different from having hamsters except squirrels are a lot bigger and they like to climb stuff.  Speaking of the hamsters, I wonder how they’re doing?  I’m sure they’re fine, but I bet they miss me, dontcha think?  I still can’t believe that I managed to get _Ciao Ciao_ of all people to take care of them,” Phichit chattered a mile a minute as they walked through the Public Garden.  Yuuri thought that it was beautiful.  All the flowers were in full bloom, and the grass looked like a perfect green carpet.  If those dainty little chains that edged all the paths weren’t there, Yuuri was sure that the gorgeous lawn would have been the perfect place for a picnic lunch. 

There was a bridal party taking wedding photos on the bridge spanning the duck pond as they passed over.  The bride wore a beautiful lace gown with a high neckline and long dangling earrings.  All the bridesmaids looked lovely too, wearing peach colored dresses with floral detailing.  Yuuri thought that they all looked terrific standing there on the bridge together.  _What a perfect place to take wedding pictures,_ he thought, _and they’re lucky that they have good weather for it._

“You all look beautiful,” Phichit told the group with a dazzling smile as they passed by. The whole lot of them looked absolutely delighted, and Yuuri smiled too. He couldn’t help but envy Phichit’s confidence sometimes. Phichit didn’t so much as bat an eye at the prospect of doing something like complimenting a random stranger, and he did it all the time. Even when Yuuri wanted to do something like that, he wasted too much time worrying about whether it would be weird or awkward or not. Then, before he knew it the opportunity would be gone. Phichit didn’t worry about things like that, though.

Once Yuuri and Phichit had passed through the Public Garden, they got stuck waiting on the sidewalk, hoping for the walk light to change.  A growing crowd bunched up in front of the crosswalk, waiting with impatience for their turn to cross the street.

“Why does it have to take so long?” Phichit groused, crossing his arms in front of his chest and tapping his foot on the ground.  “We don’t have time for this if we want to go see the seals.”

A few people who looked like locals simply dashed across the street, and Yuuri felt his heart sink when he saw Phichit fixing them with an appraising look.

“Phichit no,” Yuuri said, hoping that Phichit would realize what a phenomenally bad idea tearing through traffic like that would be.  He cringed when he could practically see the wheel’s in Phichit’s brain turning.

“Phichit _yes_.”

All Yuuri could think was _Oh no._

Right as another group of pedestrians spotted a gap in traffic and made a run for it, Phichit grabbed Yuuri by the wrist and joined them.  Yuuri didn’t have a choice but to hang on to his best friend’s arm for dear life and race along behind him.  Even when he was working on sprints during fitness training, Yuuri didn’t think he’d ever run so fast in his life.  It felt like his feet weren’t even touching the pavement as he bolted through the crosswalk behind Phichit.  _I suppose having traffic barreling down on you will do that,_ Yuuri thought, wincing as the drivers lay on their horns, annoyed that they had to slow down to accommodate the jaywalkers. 

“ _Never_ again Phichit,” Yuuri panted once they finally made it across the street and all the cars they had delayed zoomed by in a big rush.  “ _Never._ ”

“Aw, come on.  It wasn’t really _that_ bad,” Phichit said with a bright laugh.  “We made it through in one piece, didn’t we Yuuri?”

“My life flashed before my eyes,” Yuuri grumbled.  “And look!  The light’s already changed again!  At most we saved ourselves thirty seconds!”

“That’s thirty more seconds with the seals, Yuuri,” Phichit tried to sound serious but failed, dissolving into giggles as Yuuri rolled his eyes while they passed through the entrance to Boston Common.  Unlike the Public Garden, here the grass wasn’t off limits.  It wasn’t the landscape magazine perfect spread of the other park, but this was obviously where the locals came to hang out.

Old people sat together shooting the breeze on benches while college kids sunbathed in swim suits or played massive games of frisbee.  In the dog friendly section, dogs of all shapes and sizes roughhoused and romped with each other and kids ran down the paths laughing.  Other people lay in the grass, reading books or newspapers or even just playing on their phones.  _If I lived here, this is probably where I’d like to spend such a nice summer day, too,_ Yuuri thought as he and Phichit passed by a cluster of food vendors.

“So the aquarium closes at 5:00 right?  We have a little less than two hours until it closes.  Will that be enough time to get there and still enjoy it?” Yuuri asked, checking his watch.

“ _Of course,_ Yuuri!  It’s not very far away now.  Wait!” Phichit flung an arm out without warning, stopping Yuuri in his tracks.  “Look at that guy!”  He gestured wildly at a little old man sitting on one of the benches with a red and white striped bag of roasted peanuts.

“What about him?” Yuuri asked, and right away realized it was a silly question because the man was completely surrounded by squirrels and pigeons.  None of them seemed afraid of him.  In fact, they were all willing to take peanuts right from his hand when he offered it to them.

“He must have them _trained_!”  Phichit gushed.  “We’ve gotta go talk to him!  And ask him how!”  Before Yuuri could protest, Phichit was off like a shot and all Yuuri could do was hurry along in his wake.

“Excuse me, Mister.  How did you train all of them to eat from your hand like that?” Phichit asked with a winning smile.  Yuuri admired his boldness.  In a stroke of luck, the old man didn’t seem bothered by Phichit’s pestering and he smiled right back.

“They aren’t trained,” he laughed.  “The animals here on the Common just aren’t very shy.  They’ll take food from anyone.  Here.”  He shook a few peanuts from the bag into Phichit’s hand and Phichit knelt down to offer one to the closest squirrel.  It reached up with its tiny paws and grasped the peanut before shoving it into its cheek lest another squirrel make a grab for it.

“Woooooow!” Phichit yelped, feeding out the rest of the peanuts.  “Thanks Mister!”

After they said their goodbyes to the old man, Phichit suddenly stopped in his tracks. 

“Yuuri, I know what we need to do!” Phichit spun and grabbed Yuuri’s upper arms.

“Get to the aquarium…?”

“No!  We need to feed the albino squirrel and earn its trust!”  Phichit linked hands with Yuuri and started to run back towards the food vendors.  “Let’s buy peanuts!”

“What about the aquarium?” Yuuri asked, lengthening his step to keep up with Phichit.

“We can go tomorrow!  When else will we have a chance to make friends with an _albino squirrel_?” Phichit shrieked.  Yuuri laughed and followed along with him.  _He sure has crazy schemes, but I don’t think anyone could have a better friend then Phichit,_ Yuuri thought as Phichit swung their arms and chattered about the squirrel.  _We sure do have fun, don’t we?_

**Author's Note:**

> I hope that you enjoyed reading this! I know that I had a whole lot of fun writing it, so much so that I'm considering extending the story even though I only ever planned for it to be a one shot. So please let me know if you'd like to see more of this!
> 
> Comments totally make my day, so please drop me a line! You can also reach me on Tumblr @haircut-named-arthur or on Twitter @pennylanewrites
> 
> Thanks so much for reading!!


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